And I'll Hold You Close To My Heart
by Aria Taylor
Summary: In which Percy goes missing and Annabeth develops a habit.


**Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan. **

**This one-shot takes place during the six months that Percy was missing. **

And I'll Hold You Close To My Heart

Annabeth

_"Life is tough, but so are you."_

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Your hands shake as you struggle to hold on to the chariot. The wind blows the stray curls that managed to escape your ponytail around your face. You repeat prayers in your head to every god that you can think of that he'll be there when you arrive. That the answer that Hera promised will be _him_, standing there with his lopsided, but beautiful smile and his green eyes shining as he opens his arms for you to run into.

You can feel Butch next to you in the chariot and you suddenly feel incredibly insecure. He had always been there by your side; Percy Jackson had always protected you, and you, him. Now that he's gone, you aren't as confident as you once were. Your arms and legs are shaking. Your eyes flit back and forth, always on guard for a threat. You're anxious, confused about what to do with your other half gone, ripped away from you.

The Grand Canyon comes into view and your anxiety levels shoot straight up. Butch can feel your nerves, because he elbows you in the side. You turn and glare at him.

"Hey," he reassures you. "It'll be okay. If he's not here, at least you'll still have a hint. That's what Hera promised, right?"

You nod solemnly and look ahead without saying a word. The chariot goes faster than anything you've ever been on, but suddenly, it seems to be too slow as you approach the Grand Canyon.

You close your eyes and press your lips together. They're the same lips that Percy had kissed three days ago. By pressing them together, you feel like you're keeping the kiss locked inside of you. The last remnant of Percy you have left.

It'll be okay. Butch's calm demeanor begins to calm you. It'll be fine. It'll all work out.

But when you arrive and the none of the three people are Percy, you feel played and cheated. So you press your lips together again, to remind yourself that he's out there somewhere. And by the gods, if finding him is the last thing you ever do, then so be it.

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You hate camp nowadays. Everything reminds you of Percy. His cabin is straight across from yours, so you can't leave for archery class or breakfast without passing by it. You can't eat a meal in the dining pavilion without being reminded of your first real kiss with him. You can't go to the beach at all anymore because that's where the two of you hung out the most. That's where you spent hours underwater, kissing, until the doofus finally asked you to be his girlfriend.

You feel bad for Piper, the girl you're showing around. You can tell she's scared and confused; all demigods are at first. But your heart just isn't into the tour. You point out things halfheartedly and don't put any enthusiasm into your words when talking about all the amazing opportunities the camp has to offer. Piper doesn't seem to mind, though. She seems worried for you, and when she asks about Percy, you have to take a break for a minute before you break down into tears.

You rub your face, trying to get the moisture out of your eyes. "Sorry," you apologize. "A little tired."

Piper looks at you sympathetically. "You look ready to drop. How long have you been searching for your boyfriend?"

The sad thing is, you don't even have to think about the answer. You just know. It's like there's a little stopwatch in your brain that's ticking off the minutes that Percy's been missing. "Three days, six hours, and about twelve minutes."

"And you've got no idea what happened to him?"

You shake your head miserably. You're not sure if you should tell Piper what happened, but the words start slipping out before you can think. "We were so excited because we both started winter break early. We met up at camp on Tuesday, figured we had three weeks together. It was going to be great. Then after the campfire, he -" Your voice breaks pathetically, and you close your eyes and press your lips together, remembering. "-he kissed me good night, went back to his cabin, and in the morning, he was gone. We searched the whole camp. We contacted his mom. We've tried to reach him every way we know how. Nothing. He just disappeared."

You don't tell Piper your greatest fear. That the reason he had left was because of _you_. You know it's ridiculous. Percy is loyal to the core. He'd told you that he'd had a crush on you since you two were twelve. But a small part of your mind keeps on telling you that _you _were the reason he had left. That he didn't want you anymore and had left to get away from you. The very thought scares you more than spiders do.

Piper furrows her eyebrows. "How long were you guys together?"

You press your lips together again, trying to keep that last kiss alive, trying to remember and reassure yourself with the memory of his lips gentle and loving against yours.

"Since August," you answer. "August eighteenth."

And oh, how you wish it was still that day, when everything was perfect. When you had no idea how horrible your life would become.

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You know Jason is right, but you so desperately want him to be wrong. His words echo in your ears.

_Percy Jackson is at the other camp and he probably doesn't even remember who he is._

There's silence for a minute or two as his words settle. Then the council errupts into shouts and arguments. Through it all, you sit there, silent, staring at the table. Your lips press against each other, this time with a wish sealed inside.

_Remember me. Please._

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The night wind sends goosebumps down your arms and legs as you sneak quietly across the circle of cabins. Your eyes flit across the wing of buildings, checking to make sure there are no harpies around. Your feet are soundless against the ground and within a matter of twenty seconds, you're standing on the porch of the Poseidon cabin. Quietly, you slip inside.

You're very familiar with the cabin. After all, Percy is the only one who lives in here and you have an invisibility cap. Those couple of weeks after the Titan War had consisted of her sneaking into his cabin during his free hours and at night. The cabin had always seemed so welcoming to her then. Sometimes, she liked it more than he own cabin. But now, with Percy gone, the cabin looks sad. His clothes are still strewn everywhere and his bed still unmade. You head for the bed and slip inside of it, immediately enveloped by the saltwater and sweat aroma. You pull the blankets around you and bury your head in the pillow, letting the tears that you have kept bottled up for days at a time, spill out.

You miss him more than ever. Each day without him is more excruciating than the one before. You never realized how much you needed him before he was brutally ripped away from you. You never realized how much you loved him. And now you might never see him again.

After you're done, you relax your tense and tired muscles, and fall asleep in Percy's bed.

But before you do, your lips automatically press together and you promise yourself that when you see him again, you're going to kiss him senseless, whether he remembers you or not.

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The Argo ll is done. You're in your cabin, packing your bag. You're supposed to be leaving that day. Leo estimated that it would take about five days to get to the Roman camp. Five more days until you get to see Percy again.

The bags under your eyes are worse than they've ever been and you're much more antsy than normal. You're fairly sure that almost everyone at camp is afraid of you, but you don't really care. In five days, you're going to see Percy again.

You press your lips together and for the first time in six months, a small smile escapes.

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He's here, right in front of you. You see him and you can't tear your eyes away. He's watching you also and you're praying oh so desperately that he'll remember, that he hasn't changed, that he still loves you, that he's still _your Percy_.

And then he smiles and it's been forever since you've seen that smile and while it says so many things - _you're here, I'm alive, I missed you, I love you, I have so much to tell you, I'm sorry for going missing_ - only one message sticks out to you.

_I remember you. _

Then, suddenly, you're running and he's running and the entire Roman army that surrounds you melts away until it's only you and him. He holds out his arms and you collide in the middle and then you're touching him and he's touching you and he's so much taller and more fit than he was six months ago and you're crying and laughing at the same time and then suddenly he's kissing you so hard that you have to take a couple steps back. You kiss back just as hard and he smiles against your lips and then so do you and _you have him back_.

And now you're complete again.

**Well, I wrote this really quickly, so I apologize if it's not my best work. I have this headcanon that Annabeth was constantly pressing her lips together to kinda hold in that last kiss with Percy while he was missing. I don't know, I just thought it was sweet. **

**Review!**

**"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." John 14:1 NIV**


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